12 Hikes in 12 Weeks: UCD Arboretum Walk

Call this one Hike 1.5; it's more of a pleasantly brisk walk than a hike, but it's 3.5 miles, and as it turns out, a godsend.

I started the day off rather nicely: came down the stairs from my apartment, hit a turn-step-weight adjustment wrong at the bottom, and ended up flat on my back with an ankle that had bent quite a bit more outward than it should have. Luckily, because I'm anal retentive, I had my hiking boots fully laced up and thus probably saved myself from the worst case scenario.

However, no visible bruising and just a little throbbing right up front, my Achilles tendon present and accounted for. Off we went.

The UC Davis Arboretum walk is a paved main path with unpaved side paths through various areas. For example, the Acacia Grove. Acacias are kind of magnificently weird, and they come from just about every continent. Bladed leaves, fern-like leaves, feathery leaves, pine-needly leaves... A leaf for everyone! It was fascinating to see so many trees in the same family that looked and felt so different. The super-continent Pangaea came up in conversation, and how these trees might well be some of the best proof of continental movement into Earth's present state.



But the acacias weren't the only cool flora in residence.

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I find it necessary to point out that a lot of people have a misconception about forest fires. Remember that giant Yellowstone fire? 

Destructive, yes. Effing necessary? YES. 

Whole species of pines can't actually reproduce if things don't get hot enough to open up their tightly closed cones and allow the seeds out to germinate! 

That over there to the left is a cork oak.

I've seen wine corks - of course - but I'd never seen them still in tree form. I had a bit of a O.o moment wherein I stared, then exclaimed something aloud that I'm absolutely certain was poignant and intelligent, then stared some more, then went over and started pawing at it. Like you do.

Thick bark that isn't all that dense equals great protection from fire.

                            And speaking of.

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Did I learn this for the first time at the arboretum? No. But I thank the arboretum walk for passing this tidbit of Very Important Info along.

Icing and heating the ankle alternately now while I binge on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Gotham, in hopes that I will be able to embark upon the much longer hike I've chosen for this coming Sunday.

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